


Rejection

by The_Secret_Life_Of_Tea



Series: Learning [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternative and Augmentative Communication, Autism, Canon Autistic Character, Disability, Like a lot of internalized ableism, Multi, Neurodiversity, Written by an autistic, aac, internalized ableism, nonverbal autism, who also uses AAC as needed to communicate
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-02
Updated: 2020-05-02
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:34:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23971642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Secret_Life_Of_Tea/pseuds/The_Secret_Life_Of_Tea
Summary: Hurt leads to some pain, and then an understanding.
Series: Learning [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1728244
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	Rejection

**Author's Note:**

> So in this one, Bruce is a nonverbal autistic! It will eventually build to him and Thor in a relationship, but they’ve both got a LOT to learn about themselves first. Also I am an autistic who uses AAC to communicate semi-frequently. If you have any questions, I am here!

Bruce was well aware that Thor did not like him.

It wasn’t like Steve, who liked Bruce but thought Hulk was a bit of a destructive force; it wasn’t like Tony, Bucky, and Clint, who understood a majority of Bruce’s struggles because they were neurodivergent too; it wasn’t like Natasha, who seemed to have keyed into all of Bruce’s nonverbal behaviors so he didn’t even have to use his tablet or sign language to communicate with her. 

No, Thor had a problem with Bruce solely due to his being autistic.

Bruce was autistic in what most uneducated (or, and perhaps especially, those that purported themselves to be educated) people would consider “severe.” He himself preferred to say he had more complex support needs, but it was hard to convince others of his competence when he couldn’t use verbal language, dealt with self-injurious behaviors during meltdowns, and stimmed pretty much constantly.

Even seven PhDs hung proudly on his wall couldn’t get a majority of the population to believe that he was not a burden; his brain just worked in a different way. Tony was very fond of the “different operating system” metaphor and used it to his advantage when arguing Bruce’s personhood.

He'd often jump to Bruce’s defense when Bruce was too overloaded to use his AAC app to talk. 

Nat would glare at people who did not presume Bruce’s competence.

Steve would place a strong, firm hand on his shoulder to offer an anchor to the present.

Bucky would silently hand him a stim toy (Bruce loved anything that spun; he was mainly a visual and tactile stimmer). 

Clint would sign to him most of the time, especially when Bruce was overwhelmed.

But Thor? Thor was a different story altogether. He’d sneer at Bruce when the latter was overloaded and awash in overwhelm, drowning in the sea of his overwrought senses. And it hurt, it hurt to have to try and prove himself competent and a thinking human person when Thor clearly did not believe him. Eventually, he stopped trying. It wasn’t worth it. 

But then there came a breakthrough. Unfortunately, it required some pain.

———

Bruce made a quiet noise to himself, rocking back and forth. It had been a very big day at the Avengers tower; an intense mission had left Bruce breathless. He’d had a meltdown due to the sensory issues associated with Hulking out and fighting a big battle. Luckily, Tony had been there to get him to the comfort room and hug him tight enough that he calmed way down.

Thor, though, had given him this look—like he was a bug to be crushed beneath Thor’s boot. It hurt. But Bruce didn’t bring it up. No need to make waves.

It turned out that Thor was the one to break his silence. 

Aggressively. 

As he rocked back and forth on the couch to calm his frayed nerves, Bruce noticed Thor striding over. The stomp of the god’s boots on the hardwood floor made Bruce cower into himself, clutching at his head.

A finger, brutally-placed—jabbed right into Bruce’s solar plexus—left him staring up at a vengeful, furious Thor.

Scrabbling for his tablet, which always hung across his shoulder from a black strap, Bruce willed his suddenly-shaking fingers to his AAC app. 

“Stop touching me,” the robotic voice spoke for him. It lacked the inflection he wanted it to have—the raw angry fear overtaking him had no voice, not one that Thor would recognize. 

“Banner, you’re a weak-willed, child-minded idiot,” Thor snarled. “You move strangely and you refuse to talk or communicate properly. Talk to me, dammit. Talk!” Hands shoved at Bruce harshly, biting into his flesh.

Bruce’s own expression was blank, his mind a white space in his head. Hands, hands all grabbing at him, calloused, cruel, malicious—

A keening scream ripped itself away from his lips. His own hands turned into fists as his fingers clenched and tore at his hair.

“Whoa, whoa, HEY!” Tony’s voice sparked across Bruce’s consciousness. Curling on the floor of the tower instead of on the soft plush of the couch helped to mitigate some of the sensory-related overwhelm, helped Bruce find his body in this awful white space. But Thor’s words took up residence inside his chest to squeeze at his throat. He gave a moan.

Suddenly, Thor was no longer looming over him. The lack of an imposing shadow made Bruce look up with a quiet, confused noise. “Mm?”

He gaped at Tony, who had grabbed Thor and was pulling him out of the room. “Let’s go, big guy,” he snapped. “I know you’ve got a bunch of shit to unlearn, but you don’t get to come in here and hurt Bruce like that—it won’t fly here.” And with that, Bruce was alone. 

Fingers unclenched and lifted from his tangled curls; a soft noise escaped him as he sat up slowly. Phantom pain from Thor’s grabbing flickered at the corners of his consciousness.

Mostly, though? He felt… unsafe. He felt hurt. But it was clear who the asset was to this team—Thor, a strong-willed god and neurotypical, who could adapt and work together with the team (except Bruce), was much more important to the Avengers than a nonverbal autistic with self-esteem issues who just couldn’t cope with conflict. 

And so he knew what to do.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m on tumblr @ dashing-hyphen !


End file.
